As electronic devices and other electrical apparatuses increasingly become portable, advances must be made in energy storage devices to enable such portability. Indeed it is often the case with current electronics technology that the limiting factor to portability of a given device is the size and weight of the associated energy storage device. Obviously a small energy storage device may be fabricated for a given electrical device, but at the cost of energy capacity. The result is that either the energy source is too bulky, too heavy, or it does not last long enough. The main energy storage device used for portable electronics is the electrochemical battery cell, and less frequently, the electrochemical capacitor.
One limiting feature of current battery cells is the packaging of the electrochemical system. The current convention is to house the electrodes and electrolyte in a steel can. This form of packaging is commercially available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. In the past this has forced designers to design electrical products around the cells, rather than design the product the way they would prefer, adding the energy source later. Additionally, the can adds a significant amount of weight to the cell, which is a marketing drawback.
Therefore there exists a need for a new packaging material for an energy source. This material should provide a lightweight package that is flexible, or otherwise conformal, inexpensive, and can be processed with plastic processing techniques and tools. Further, as is standard with current energy storage device packaging technology, the material must not react with the chemical system of the energy storage device, and should resist attack from common solvents.